Head coach Nick Saban of LSU celebrates after defeating ...

Head coach Nick Saban of LSU celebrates after defeating Oklahoma 21-14 to win the National Championship at the Nokia Sugar Bowl on January 4, 2004 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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The Tigers' National Championship win was no surprise to those who know LSU

by Kim Goss

There was a time LSU fans had to flip all the way back to 1958 to remember their team winning a national championship, so only the diehards held out much hope for this year's Tigers to repeat the feat. Despite the Tigers' winning streak, the media had given this talented team relatively scant attention, choosing instead to focus on the BCS controversy between Oklahoma and USC. But when the Tigers roared to a 21-14 victory against Oklahoma in the Nokia Sugar Bowl on January 4, they won the respect of an entire nation.

From Oklahoma's perspective, with a national championship on the line and pitted against a 12-1 team like the 2003 Tigers, the Sooners obviously hadn't intended to take anything for granted. However, they could not have predicted that the Tigers would be able to shut down their offense, which had been averaging 45 points per game and was under the leadership of a quarterback who had won the Heisman Trophy. Nevertheless, matched up against LSU in the Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma was held to only 14 points and a mere 154 total yards offense.

country. And once you've seen LSU's athletic facilities and gotten to know their strength coaches and athletic trainers, you'll have to agree that this school really knows how to produce champions.

The Tigers perform their offfield workouts in the LSU strength

and conditioning facility. Located in Tiger Stadium, the weightroom is 10,000 square feet and contains all the combinations of Olympic barbells, lifting platforms, squat racks and benches necessary for building strong football programs. The man in charge of making the

A Strength Training Legacy

If it's true that a football team's conditioning can be judged by the strength of its defense, then LSU's conditioning program and sports medicine program must be considered among the best in the

Corey Webster #13 of LSU carries the football after intercepting a pass by Oklahoma in the first quarter. The Tigers' defense shut down the Sooners' offense, which had been averaging 45 points per game. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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Running back Justin Vincent #25 of LSU carries the football to score the team's second touchdown against Oklahoma. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Tigers bigger, faster and stronger is Tommy Moffitt.

Currently in his fourth year as LSU's strength and conditioning coordinator, Moffitt previously coached at the University of Miami (1994-97) and the University of Tennessee (19981999). Moffitt coached many of the athletes who went on to win

national championships for those schools (Tennessee in 1998 and Miami in 2001). His accomplishments earned him the 1999 Collegiate Football Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year awarded by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Society. Moffitt, a 1986 graduate of Tennessee Tech

University, comes from Springfield, Tennessee.

"Our football players really work hard here and this year's success is a direct result of all their labor," says Moffitt. "It all began last January when we started training. The intensity, effort and toughness that our guys exhibited was outstanding. It didn't matter

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what we threw at

1992 Moffitt

them, whatever

was also

we asked them

awarded the

to do, they did

National High

it."

School Strength

The Tigers

Coach of the

lift three days a

Year Award. "It

week,

was always a

emphasizing

dream of mine

explosive multi-

to coach at LSU

joint movements

and now that

and strength

dream has

development.

become a

Each spring the

reality. My wife

Tiger's

Tommy Moffitt is currently and I used to

participate in a in his fourth year as LSU's come here and

"Fourth Quarter" strength and conditioning watch the Tigers

program consisting of four

coordinator.

play, and I knew that Baton

days of speed

Rouge and Tiger

improvement and agility drills.

Stadium was something special."

"This is where championships are

While at John Curtis Moffitt

won,"says Moffitt. "Our goal is to met Gayle Hatch, a weightlifting

compete for 60 minutes, and you coach from Baton Rouge who

can't do it if you are not in shape!" Moffitt credits for most of his

Moffitt began his coaching success. Hatch was coached by the

career at John Curtis Christian

late Alvin Roy, and through him

High School in New Orleans,

developed a total conditioning

Louisiana, where he was the

program for football that

school's strength coach, wrestling emphasized plyometrics and the

coach and assistant offensive line Olympic lifts. An LSU graduate,

coach. During that time John

Roy was recruited by head football

Curtis' football team won four of coach Paul Dietzel to design the

18 football championships and

weight training program that

four weightlifting state

helped LSU win the national

championships in class 4A. In

championship in 1958.

In an interview by Karl Dubois that appeared in the December 26, 2003 issue of The Advocate, a Baton Rouge newspaper, Moffitt acknowledged Hatch's contributions. "What I've done is taken his theories and methodology for training weightlifters and adapted it for football," says Moffitt. "He's been a major influence in the things that I've done. I wouldn't be where I am today had it not been for Coach Hatch.

Tiger Sports Medicine

Football is a tough sport, and even the best-conditioned athletes are likely to get injured in due course. Whenever those injuries occur, LSU athletes receive the best of care at the Broussard Center for Athletic Training. The center is named after Martin J. Broussard, who served as an athletic trainer from 1948 to 1993 and as an assistant to the athletic director from 1993 to 2001. The 23,000-square-foot facility includes the largest hydrotherapy pools in the country, a full-service pharmacy, an on-site X-ray room and a full-service vision center.

John Burnside is one of nine graduate assistant athletic trainers

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Bigger Faster Stronger ? Spring 2004 - BFS 25

The Tigers lift three days a week, emphasizing explosive multi-joint movements and strength development.

at LSU. He attended Miami Southridge High School in Miami, Florida, where he says he became interested in his field from his association with strength coach Len Walencikowski, a BFS clinician who has been at Miami Southridge since 1979. From there, Burnside did his undergraduate work at the University of Central Florida, then applied to graduate school at LSU, working under Director of Sports Medicine Jack Marucci. "We have been fortunate

this year in terms of keeping players healthy," says Burnside. "We've had pretty good success with everything we've done with treatment and in the strength room to keep athletes healthy, and across-the-board we've had a reduced number of injuries, both acute and overuse.

Burnside says that all LSU freshmen are evaluated by the sports medicine staff for possible orthopedic, biomechanical and flexibility problems. Based on

these assessments and a careful evaluation of the athlete's injury history, the staff develops special testing and training programs. When rehabilitation is required, LSU is current with all the latest techniques.

During Burnside's first year at LSU he worked with the track team, and it was through this experience that he was introduced to Dr. Michael Ripley, who taught him many Active Release techniques. Active Release is a

"Our goal is to compete for sixty minutes, and you can't do it if your not in shape," says LSU's strength and conditioning coordinator Tommy Moffitt.

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